MacDonald is reported as saying that "the province has already decided that it will not fund the (CCSVI) treatment until there is medical evidence that it is safe and effective."
Meanwhile, in a nearby internet neighborhood, MSers are gathering at the address of www.ccsvi-tracking.com - a party that is 676 strong - to provide their post-CCSVI intervention tracking data (which covers a period of trackable months).
Although the Minister of Health clearly does not regard this data as relevant to the assessment of effectiveness,
Highlights form the tracking site findings:
- 81 % of participants have seen an overall improvement of average symptoms
- 62 % of participants have seen improvement in overall quality of life
- 72 % of participants have seen improvements in fatigue
- 71 % of participants have seen improvement in sensitivity
- 67 % of participants have seen improvement in cognitive function
- 46 % of participants have seen improvement in their vision
- 58 % of participants have seen improvement in mobility
So Mr. Peart most go abroad for treatment, and must bear the entire burden of the cost himself - no help from the government that provides his health care.
It is understandable why an official with no medical experience would not take into account patient's subjective assessments (even though, it must be said, that most neurologists are quite accustomed to accepting MSers self-subjective self-report on the impact of pharmaceuticals and other treatments on their MS symptoms and function). However, I wonder what the basis for ignoring or dismissing neurologists' findings about the efficacy of CCSVI intervention on MS symptoms/patient function.
Like this review of CCSVI that appeared in the Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, "Multiple Sclerosis: A Vascular Etiology?" by well-regarded neurosurgeon Dr. Bruce Weir, who wrote the following (I've taken some liberties and excerpted for those who don't want to click through and read the entire paper
here):
- the perivenular localization of the demyelination in multiple sclerosis (MS) has been observed
- Paolo Zamboni and colleagues have demonstrated abnormal venous circulation in some multiple sclerosis patients
- Zamboni et al have obtained apparent clinical improvement or stabilization by endovascular ballooning of points of obstruction in the great veins in some, at least temporarily
- The possibility that venous reflux, reversal of flow, and venous hypertensionare the primary inciting causes of at least some forms of MS is currently a defensible hypothesis
- trials of angioplasty/stenting are justified in selected cases in view of the biological plausibility of the concept
If Dr. Weir is to be believed - and , as a retired neurovascular surgeon who is the former Chief of Neurosurgery and Director of the Brain Research Institute of the Pritzker School of Medicine, is Professor Emeritus at the University of Alberta as well as Vice-President of Medical Affairs at the University of Calgary it seems that indeed he should be - then CCSVI intervention is proven effective enough to comment publicly on it.
I've heard of one hand not knowing what the other is doing, I guess this is a version of one ear not listening to what the other has heard. Still, the fact that such as Dr. Weir and the
www.ccsvi-tracking.comand networking sites like the Facebook page
CCSVI in Multiple Sclerosis where
patientsand
treatment providers (many with
US trained medical teams) can interact is a giant technology-enabled step in the right direction.